Bodiccea (Act I) - Revision history

Onderduiker: Added introductory content from Bodiccea page

2017-02-19T23:15:15Z

Added introductory content from Bodiccea page

Onderduiker: Onderduiker moved page Bodiccea (Chapter 1) to Bodiccea (Act I) without leaving a redirect: Updated following mergers

2017-02-13T23:24:20Z

Onderduiker moved page Bodiccea (Chapter 1) to Bodiccea (Act I) without leaving a redirect: Updated following mergers

Onderduiker: Added Chapters 2-11 (Act I)

2017-02-13T23:23:49Z

Added Chapters 2-11 (Act I)

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Onderduiker: Created page with "{{Bodiccea nav}} The Amazon seemed to come out of nowhere. The two Rogues guarding the gates never saw her. She didn't climb over the rickety walls. Without warning, she wa..."

2012-09-02T17:57:37Z

Created page with "{{Bodiccea nav}} The Amazon seemed to come out of nowhere. The two Rogues guarding the gates never saw her. She didn't climb over the rickety walls. Without warning, she wa..."

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{{Bodiccea nav}}
The Amazon seemed to come out of nowhere. The two Rogues guarding the gates never saw her. She didn't climb over the rickety walls. Without warning, she was suddenly there, standing next to Warriv by the fire, armed with a simple spear. "I need to get more sleep," he thought as he went to greet her. She was undoubtedly safe. No marks of Hell could be seen on her, and besides, the honor of an Amazon warrior is never in question. Wherever she came from, an ally is an ally, and they all had a great need for them.

"Greetings! I'm not surprised to see one of your kind here."

"Oh, hi!" the Amazon smiled, bouncing on her toes. "I'm Bodiccea."

Warriv smiled, keeping his eyes high. It wasn't easy, she was taller than him by a few inches. "I am Warriv, master of this caravan."

"Uh huh. All two wagons. But that's ok."

"Ah..." He scratched his head. There were only two wagons sitting in camp. Didn't seem like much of a caravan, even to him. "The others are around back. I suppose you've heard about the terrible events in the Rogue citadel?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill. The town of Tristram, Diablo in the catacombs, mysterious Dark Wanderer, Andarial took over the monastery, lotsa Rogues fell under an evil spell that's making them run around naked, et cetera, et cetera. You're married, right?"

Warriv's heart skipped a beat. He'd been married long enough to know that women like to ask loaded questions, and any answer he gave to this one could be dangerous. "Yes. Very happily, for nearly 20 years."

"Damn. The only other guy in Act I is Gheed, and he's gross. Hey, could you wait here a second? I just thought of something. Be right back!"

The Amazon walked over to Gheed's corner of camp. No one else besides Charsi ever went over there. Warriv heard a thump, an unidentifiable noise, then a scream of pain that lasted a lot longer than any he'd heard out of Gheed before. Then the Amazon came back, wiping her hands on a torn piece of Gheed's coat before throwing it in the fire.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked.

Bodiccea laughed. "Nope. I can't go hostile on anyone in town, so I can't hurt him. I had to settle for a Power Wedgie."

Warriv held up his hands, eyes wide in mock terror. "You cruel, heartless beast! You speak strangely, Miss Bodiccea, but you have obviously encountered Gheed before. Any enemy of Gheed's is a friend of mine!"

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Kashya said as she walked over. "Well, well. I never expected to see an Amazon here."

"Without a Windforce or Titan's, you mean? Don't worry, I'm not getting rushed, I'm doing this legit." She grinned and bounced on her toes again. "Hi! I'm Bodiccea."

Kashya nodded quietly. "Named for the legendary queen who rose up against oppression and struck down the men who violated her daughters and her home. We Rogues honor her memory. I hope you have the strength to fill her shoes."

Bodiccea looked down at her exceptionally ample bosom. "She also inspired the words 'bodice' and 'bodacious'. I don't think its her shoes I need to fill out."

Warriv suddenly took a great interest in a bug crawling through the grass. Kashya opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again. "Queen Bodiccea was a leader in the war against persecution! The memory of her uprising is revered by all women!"

"Yeah, she was a great fighter," Bodiccea nodded. "And, she had a really impressive bod! You can have both, there's no law against it. Anyhoo, I gotta go talk to Akara."

"Yes, you should," Warriv suddenly said. "She is the leader of the Rogues... but it seems you already know that."

"Sure, everybody does."

"Akara may be the Rogues' spiritual leader," Kashya snarled, "but I command the sisters in battle! Combat is not a duty for the frivolous."

"Chill, sis! Jeebus, you're tense. How long has it been since you got any, anyway?"

Quicker than you'd expect for a man his age, Warriv jumped between them. "Yes, going to see Akara would be a good idea! She's the leader of the monastery, you know. In charge of important things! Why don't you go over to her tent right now?"

Akara paced outside her tent, barely more than a blanket thrown over a single wooden post. She never looked up as Bodiccea approached, but greeted her anyway. "Greetings. I am Akara, high priestess of the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye."

"Hi! I'm Bodiccea. Say, you always have that purple hood pulled way down over your face. Are you blind or something?"

"I see very well, child. At times, it is more of a curse than a blessing."

"That tent is the blessing. How the heck do you stash all those tomes, scrolls, potions, staves, wands, and scepters in there?"

"Very efficiently. But it does mean I spend a lot of time in the rain. From what I have heard, you and Kashya did not see eye to eye on your first meeting."

"Nah. She's way too uptight. I need to do that, um... that quest thing, you know?"

"Hmm. Perhaps a small quest to prove your mettle would smooth over your differences with Kashya. Andarial's forces occupy our monastery, and have blocked the pass so that no one may travel through the mountains. More immediately, our poor shelter is being menaced by a gathering of evil forces in a nearby den."

Bodiccea snapped her fingers. "Yeah, the Den of Evil! Got it. Um..." She frowned, and chewed on her lower lip. "There's something else..."

"You have spoken with Warriv and Kashya, and met Gheed. Thank you for that small service, by the way. I have wanted to do something like that for days now. Have you met Charsi yet?"

"THAT'S IT! Thanks, back in a flash. Bye!"

Bodiccea bounced (quite literally) across camp to Charsi's blacksmith stand. "Hi!"

"Oh, hi!" Charsi said, dropping a dozen arrowheads in water to cool. "I'm Charsi!"

"I know! I'm Bodiccea. Can I ask you something?"

Her head cocked to one side, Charsi said, "Uh huh?"

Bodiccea looked to the left, then the right, and finally leaned forward to whisper, "Has Kashya always been such a B. I. T. C. H?"

Eyes wide, Charsi leaned closer and loudly whispered, "GAWD, yes! The other day, I was, like, talking about Barbarians, and how studly and hunky they are?"

"Yeah!" Bodiccea laughed, eyes wide. "I hear they're huge!"

"Ooh, yeah! I would so like to meet one!"

"I want to do more than meet one! But I won't see any until Act V! Wah!"

"Huh?"

"Forget it. What'd Kashya do?"

"She got up and walked away! I could not buh-LEEVE it!"

"Whoa! Maybe she's a lesbian."

Charsi shook her head, glancing heavenward in utter disgust. "I would so totally not be surprised. I mean, she rags on men ALL the time!"

"Guys are great! They're so much fun to play with."

"I think my dad was a Barbarian! That would be so great! Wouldn't that be great?"

"No way! Look at you. You've gotta be an Amazon!"

Charsi's eyes widened. "You think?"

Bodiccea grinned, and shook her head. "Sure! We've got the same hair color. Barbs all have black hair!"

"Ooh ooh ooh! I love black hair! Do they wear it long and loose and wild?"

"Yeah, the ones that don't shave it. Guys should keep it long. I like long hair!"

"Ew, shaved heads are yucky. I keep thinking they had lice or something."

"Yuck. Listen, I gotta go out and prove my womanhood or whatever. I'll come buy stuff when I get some money, 'k?"

"Sure thing! I got some spears here. And armor. It comes with pants, you know..."

"Nah. I got it, why hide it? I just wish there were more guys here. See ya!"

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:15, 19 February 2017
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		+	{{Intro}}
		+	''This is [https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/grand-tour-pt-7.127099/ the seventh and final part] of Stony's Grand Tour, written between 16 January 2004 and 24 July 2004, and originally posted in the Diabloii.net [https://www.diabloii.net/forums/forums/single-player-forum.3/ Single Player Forum]. While the opening posts are long gone, Vesper, one of our Community Members, contacted him and was given the original documents, and permission to reproduce them at the Amazon Basin.''
		+	----
		+	While Amazons are powerful and interesting in the Diablo II game, I've never been as fond of them as I am of other characters. In the past, I've praised the Paladin for having a diverse skill set, offering up many different playing options, yet the Amazon's skills are at least as varied. Both melee and ranged combat are viable options, putting her one up on the Sorceress. And yet, I haven't played many Amazons, or much enjoyed the ones I did play.
		+
		+	Of course, my dissatisfaction could be because my early experiences with the character were very frustrating. For my first Amazon, I wanted to try bows, but couldn't find any powerful ones and didn't want to take an hour to finish off Normal Diablo. Instead, I wound up using a spear, and quickly discovered that Jab was the only skill worth using. (This was in the hoary days of v. 1.0, of course.) Much later, I tried a Javazon, and had the opposite problem: the big sticks made killing too easy, especially with Lightning Fury. I didn't even have to aim... just clicked the mouse a couple of times and everything died. After that, I went off to play the other classes, and never looked back for long.
		+	\|}
		+
		+	Now, many versions later, I understand that the Amazon has been overhauled for the better. In particular, while Jab was nerfed by making it dependent on weapon speed, the other spear skills were improved. Back when I first tried it, Fend was nothing but a slow mockery of Zeal, and the "lightning damage" spear skills were pathetic. Now, if they really are more useful, a Spearazon might be fun. If not... it's back to Jabbing again, and I'll need some attack speed boosts to compensate for the nerf. Extra movement speed might help too, for closing in on those pesky archers and mages. Come to think of it, could a melee fighter gain much from lots of extra movement? There are "speedazons", but they use bows. I've never equipped anyone like that, which makes it a good thing to try now.
		+
		+	My plan is: a pure Spearazon, with as many boosts to attack and movement speed as I can lay my grubby little hands on. At high levels, her main attack skill will probably be Fend, but I'll try the lightning skills to see how they've changed. No Pikes -- I'll restrict myself to fast spears like the Brandistock class. They have serious dexterity requirements, as do Amazon-specific spears, so she won't have any problem hitting things. Doing enough damage might be difficult. A big investment in Critical Strike would be a good idea, and if I can swing it, some gear with Crushing Blow. But speed takes priority.
		+
		+	All I need now is a name and a personality. Hmm... she'll be a fast girl with a high dexterity, relying on skill and technique more than muscle. She might not even be strong enough to handle the really big sticks. Every now and then, there might be a few sparks, but mostly she'll come in fast and fend of anyone who tries to get near her. Most importantly, she must have a sense of humor. I know the Amazon sounds very noble in-game, but I'm in the mood to write something just plain SILLY. Besides, any woman who's built like that better have a sense of humor about it. Her name will be Bodiccea, after a tribal warrior woman of the British Isles who rebelled against Roman rule. Apparently, she was a hottie too.

	==Chapter 1==		==Chapter 1==

← Older revision	Revision as of 23:24, 13 February 2017
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